New Orleans Ballet Presents THANK YOU GREGORY: A Tribute To The Legends Of Tap 11/20, 11/21

New Orleans Ballet Association and The NOCCA Institute present Thank You, Gregory! A Tribute to the Legends of Tap ALL PERFORMANCES ARE SOLD OUT!!!

With an all-star ensemble of eight world-class hoofers and three jazz musicians, the brand new production Thank You, Gregory! makes its Louisiana debut on November 20 and 21 at NOCCA's Freda Lupin MemoriAl Hall. Co-presented by the New Orleans Ballet Association and The NOCCA Institute, Thank You, Gregory! pays tribute to tap's leading ambassador Gregory Hines and the amazing heroes who preceded him.

The evening presents a thoughtful and carefully crafted journey revealing the multiplicity of the art form of tap dance, its curious development and unusual history, and most importantly, the advocacy that the late great Gregory Hines brought to tap dance during his life time. As he tirelessly reintroduced tap dance to an entire nation, Hines' dedication and passion was the link between the past, present and future of tap dance.

The all-star cast includes features Joseph Webb, an award-winning actor/dancer of Broadway's Bring in Da'Noise, Bring in Da'Funk, Donovan Helma, lead dancer from Tap Dogs, and Brent McBeth of Fosse fame. The Philadelphia Inquirer notes Thank You, Gregory! is "a joyful celebration of the amazingly varied, soul stirring thing called rhythm. It is not only entertaining; it's a lesson in dance history."

Produced by Dance Affiliates' artistic director Randy Swartz, directed by Ann Marie De Angelo (former principal dancer and associate artistic director of Joffrey Ballet), and created and staged by Tony Waag (artistic director of the American Tap Foundation), TYG celebrates the diverse artistry of tap legends Fred Astaire, Ruby Keeler, Gene Kelly, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers, Ann Miller, Eleanor Powell, Donald O'Connor, and the virtuosic Gregory Hines.

The program features 27 fast-paced sections and reflects the scope and breadth of tap's genres and timelines including vaudeville, Harlem and the Club circuit, Hollywood and Broadway, as well as tap's recent renaissance on concert stages and in electronic media. Clips of live performances and film excerpts showcase the elegant, highly choreographed smooth style of Fred Astaire, Honi Coles, Brenda Bufalino and Dr. Jimmy Slyde, the athleticism of the Nicholas Brothers, the eccentric creations of Donald O'Connor and Roy Bolger and the pervasive percussive rhythms of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, John Bubbles, Ernest "Brownie" Brown, Gregory Hines and today's preeminent tappers. Ensemble sections include the classic tap favorites Shim Sham Shimmy, Chairdance, the Coles Stroll, a rollerskating spoof with vocals and ukuleles, and a riveting tapping interpretation to the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby."

Thank You, Gregory's world premiere was on October 6 at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. New Orleans is the only Louisiana destination on the 14-venue national tour, which will close in April 2010.

The Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 8pm; the Saturday matinee performance begins at 2pm. Tickets are SOLD OUT! For information, call the New Orleans Ballet Association Box Office at (504) 522-0996.

This event is sponsored by Chevron.

The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) is a tuition-free arts conservatory for high school students and an agency of the State of Louisiana. The mission of The NOCCA Institute, a non-profit organization, is to provide support and advocacy for NOCCA. The Institute provides access to excellence in the arts for students, faculty, and the community-at-large. For information about auditions, events, and activities, please visit www.NOCCAInstitute.com.

New Orleans Ballet Association is celebrating 40 years of bringing dance to life and is the Central Gulf region's premiere presenting and service organization dedicated solely to the art of dance. NOBA's dynamic Main Stage season annually features a diverse array of world-class companies and artists. Each year NOBA provides concerts, classes, workshops and lectures to more than 25,000 area dance enthusiasts of all ages. In addition, NOBA's nationally recognized award-winning education programs provide the youth of our community access to quality arts programs with 2,500 free dance classes and workshops annually at ten sites throughout the Greater New Orleans area.

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which believes that a great nation deserves great art; a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council as administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans (ACNO); a Community Arts Grant made possible through the City of New Orleans as administered by ACNO; a grant from the Louisiana State Arts Council through the Louisiana Division of the Arts and the NEA.

About Gregory Hines (1946-2003)
"I love tap dancing. I love my tap shoes. I get so inspired, so filled up."

Gregory Hines has been called the Ambassador of Tap. "He did for tap what Bob Fosse did for Broadway and for what Balanchine did for ballet." (Rose Eichenbaum) He redefined tap for a new generation. He made tap sexy, fun, hip and athletic. Always seeking new steps, he devised a system called Improvography. Early in his career when tap acts were in demand, he watched Teddy Hale during a performance at the Apollo Theater. Teddy did three shows a night, but never danced the same. From that point on, Hines decided to keep working on finding new steps.
Hines came from the vaudeville tradition, whereby the performer is working to get applause. Tap Master Henry LeTang, who took the three-year-old Hines under his tutelage, used to say: "If they applaud for you four times, do it nine times." At a certain point in Hines' brilliant career, he became more interested in listening to what he was feeling. Once he connected to a specific emotion (anger, sadness, joy), he could dance directly to it and it became more meaningful.
Hines developed his unique style through his own evolution by performing at five years of age with his brother Maurice in nightclubs and theaters around the country, and by emulating his heroes such as Sammy Davis Jr. He also ‘stole' steps from Honi Coles, Henry LeTang and Sandman Sims. Hines received multiple Tony nominations for his performances in Sophisticated Ladies, Comin' Uptown and Eubie. He acted and danced in Hollywood films: The History of the World, Part 1 (1981), The Cotton Club (1984), White Nights (1985) with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Running Scared (1986), Tap (1989), Waiting to Exhale (1995), The Tic Code (1998), and Bojangles (2001).
His work in television includes an Emmy-nominated performance in Motown Return to the Apollo. His PBS special Gregory Hines: Tap Dance in America won an Emmy Award in 1989. In 1990, he starred with Annette O'Toole in the critically-acclaimed USA Network original film White Lies and in the psychological thriller Hit Radio for USA Network. Hines made his network television film debut in CBS' A Stranger in Town, costarring Jean Smart. He also played Ben Doucette, a recurring character in the popular NBC primetime television comedy Will and Grace. Recording credits include the Epic release Gregory Hines, an LP produced by friend and colleague Luther Vandross.

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